Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Politics Talk. Disgusting politicization of those who died in combat & calls to their families...

Small rant.

You guys can go at it after reading this but my mind is made up on this one. Call me stubborn but I consider it personal conviction.

The news media and the President have engaged in a disgusting politicization of those who died in combat and calls to their families.

Background.

Four Special Forces soldiers died in Niger. Why they were there in the first place isn't being debated. The fact that an offshoot of ISIS successfully ambushed some of our best isn't being thought about. The fact that we've been at war for almost 20 years is an afterthought.

The fact that the families are still in the middle of their grief isn't cared about.

Instead the news media is playing a game of gotcha with Trump because he said something stupid, and Trump is playing pass the buck because he was incapable of having a moment of clarity.

Let me unpackage that. First about Trump.

There was no need to compare his response to those of other Presidents. Only his actions matter. What came before is irrelevant. The fact that he hadn't called or written yet is understandable. Like I said. The families are in the middle of their grief. Why he would bring General Kelley's personal heartbreak into the matter in an attempt to deflect is beyond me but particularly egregious. The fact that he would compare his response to what Obama or Bush Jr did is almost childlike. I'm not pissed at him but severely disappointed. I hoped for better. He seems to hold the military in high regard so I wanted and expected a more nuanced statement.

Now the media.

These people are actually interviewing the families of the fallen SF soldiers about whether or not the President has contacted them! To me that is bordering on being vile, arrogant and uncaring. Correction. That IS vile, arrogant and uncaring.

How did we get this broken?

To many of you this is probably no big deal but it really rubs me the wrong way. These people need to knock it off.